On February 28, 2003 Robert H. Bruininks was inaugurated as the University of Minnesota’s 15th president. Bruininks had been at the University for 35 years in a variety of positions—executive vice president and provost, dean of the College of Education and Human Development, and a professor of educational psychology. At an inauguration ceremony in Northop Memorial Auditorium, Governor Tim Pawlenty and University of Minnesota Board of Regents chair Maureen Reed presented Bruininks with the mace and medallion, symbols of University leadership.